


guaranteed to have the time of your life

by edenofalltrades



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, F/M, Finn ships it, First Kiss, I can't go to Citi Field so I'm living vicariously through these characters, Kiss Cam AU, M/M, Minor Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren, Modern AU, Past Poe Dameron/Zorii Bliss, Poe Needs A Hug, Pre-Relationship, a tale of elote/edible cookie dough/nachos, deadass!Damerey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenofalltrades/pseuds/edenofalltrades
Summary: When a heartbroken Poe Dameron gets dragged to a Mets game by his best friend, he doesn't realize he's going to be sitting next to a beautiful woman... or that he'll end up on the kiss cam with her!
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo
Comments: 20
Kudos: 56
Collections: Damerey Discord Shenanigans





	guaranteed to have the time of your life

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and will not be making any profit from this story.
> 
> A huge thank you to taidine and [GothamOracle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamOracle/profile/) for beta reading. Thank you as always lovely ladies of the Damerey Discord server for the support, ideas, and feedback on this story.
> 
> This story is meant to be a love letter to Damerey, a love letter to my boyfriend (who got me into Star Wars & took me to my first Mets game), and although it might not seem like it at times, a love letter to the New York Mets.
> 
> Story title comes from "Meet the Mets"

Poe Dameron was frustrated. The sweltering afternoon heat of July in New York was bad enough on its own, but standing in line behind a man with a very inquisitive child as “Meet the Mets” played for the twentieth time made everything worse. Normally he’d be thrilled to see a game in person - there was something about being at the stadium that couldn’t be matched, even on the highest quality TV. But today he had no desire to be anywhere outside of his apartment in Brooklyn.

“I’m not letting you leave, this is for your own good,” Finn said before Poe got a chance to complain again. “You need to be out in the fresh air, among people. It will make you feel better.”

“You wanted to make me feel better so you took me to a Mets game? Being a Mets fan is a whole form of misery unto itself!” Poe snarked. He would know, having been a lifelong fan, quite literally. Growing up he often heard stories of how his parents had gone to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series while his mom was pregnant with him and how it meant that he’d gone to the game by proxy.

“At least here you’ll be miserable about the game and not your love life.” Finn slapped Poe’s shoulder. “Plus you’ll get a bobblehead, you love those!”

Poe glowered in response. Today was supposed to be his anniversary. He’d planned on spending it at a restaurant proposing to his long time on-again, off-again girlfriend. Instead, she’d broken up with him a week ago, deciding that she was tired of their arguing and that the relationship was no longer worth fighting for. That _he_ was no longer worth fighting for.

“If you stop complaining and give it a chance, I’ll buy you an overpriced beer,” Finn offered.

“And?” Poe pushed.

“And an elote.” Finn was a good friend. He’d been there for the entire Zorii debacle, always giving the perfect balance of support and realism that Poe needed.

“Fine.” Poe sighed dramatically as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll give it a try.”

“That’s the spirit!” Finn cheered. “And who knows, the game might go better than you think.”

“I highly doubt that, but I appreciate the attempt,” Poe chuckled darkly as the crowd started moving into the stadium.

* * *

Half a beer and a SmokeShack burger later, Poe felt his mood starting to lift. The seats Finn had gotten them were amazing, the Mets’ lineup was solid, the night was still full of hope.

“Careful now, you look like you’re actually starting to enjoy yourself. Wouldn’t want to send the wrong message,” Finn teased.

“The Brewers haven’t lost a game in two weeks. Meanwhile we haven’t won a game in the same amount of time and Yelich just came off the IL,” Poe chuckled. “Still plenty of time to be disappointed.”

There was still the matter of who would be sitting next to him. While Finn went to the bathroom Poe decided to scope out the seats. The view might have been fantastic but they were in the middle of the row, meaning there would almost certainly be a stranger sitting next to him; bobblehead nights generally meant a full house, no matter how poorly the team was performing.

An extrovert by nature, Poe liked to strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to him. He’d had some of the best conversations of his life with the strangers he met at baseball games. It didn’t matter if they rooted for the Mets or the away team, he always found a way to just… connect. Today he didn’t have the energy to talk to someone rooting against his team. He wasn’t even sure he had the energy to talk to someone who wasn’t Finn.

So when he had to move to let a guy in a suit pass by, Poe felt slightly relieved. Anyone who would wear a suit to a baseball game, in the middle of July, clearly wasn’t interested in having a conversation about the game. When said man was followed by a gorgeous woman wearing a Yoenis Céspedes jersey that was so big on her it reached the edges of her too-short shorts, Poe knew he was in trouble. Especially when she sat next to him and smiled.

 _She’s with suit-and-tie-in-July,_ Poe reminded himself. _That means off-limits._

“How do you think it’s going to go?” The woman leaned over and asked in a crisp British accent, ruining Poe’s plan to try and ignore her for the night.

“I think that as long as it’s not a complete shut-out, we can call it a success.” Poe smiled, hoping it came off as charming as he had intended it to be.

“I have a good…” she started, only to be cut off by her companion.

“Leave him alone, Scavenger,” he seethed. “He probably doesn’t want to hear you yammering.”

Poe wanted to step in, to intervene on her behalf. Hell, to intervene on _his_ behalf.

“Ignore my cousin,” she said with an eye roll. “He’s just pissy because he didn’t want to be here but his dad forced him to come.”

“Yeah, to keep an eye on you!”

“I’m perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you!”

Poe watched the two of snark back and forth, captivated.

“Just go and text your boyfriend!” She glowered at him.

The man looked at her, then over at Poe, then back at her. “If anything happens to you, don’t come crying to me.”

Poe couldn’t see the look on her face. but he imagined it to be formidable; the man got up in a huff and walked out of the row, not even bothering to wait for them to get up.

“Sorry again about my cousin, he can be a bit intense.” Her smile was shy and beautiful. “And sorry if I was bothering you earlier, I needed to get rid of the chaperone and knew the fastest way would be to start talking to someone else about the game. I can leave you be.”

“No!” Poe said a little too quickly. Taking a breath, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, you don’t have to do that. I’m here with my best friend and you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“I’d love to!” Setting her bobblehead on the ground, she reached out a hand as she introduced herself. “I’m Rey.”

“I know.” She was sunshine personified, a beautiful, beaming ray of light. He would have been an idiot not to see it… and as her smile turned to a look of confusion, he realized what he had said. “I mean, I’m Poe.”

“Nice to meet you, Poe,” Rey said as she shook his hand. Yep, he was fucked.

“You make new friends while I was gone?” Finn’s voice cut into Poe’s trance as he sat down next to him and put a container with elote in his lap.

“Oh, uhh, yeah, this is…” Poe started.

“Rey,” she cut in.

“Finn,” he answered as he reached past Poe to shake her hand.

“Poe told me it was okay if I joined you for the game,” Rey explained to Finn. “My ‘companion’ for the evening should be on his way out and it would be nice to have some company, but I understand if you don’t want me to join.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Finn assured her. “And besides, if Poe already told you he’s okay with it, how could I say otherwise?”

Rey was just about to speak when she was cut off again by her cousin. “Hux said he can pick me up, you sure you’re okay to make it home by yourself, Scavenger?”

“I’ll be fine, I have my Metrocard,” Rey sighed.

“And you’ll tell my dad…” her cousin pressed.

“I’ll tell Han that you were with me the whole time.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you want to take a picture together to send as proof?”

After a long pause her cousin nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

“Would you mind watching my bobblehead? I’ll be right back,” Rey asked Poe sweetly.

“Yeah,” he nodded. She probably could have convinced him to give her his bobblehead as well.

“Perfect, thanks!” Patting Poe twice on the shoulder, Rey stood and climbed up and over her seat to the row behind them which was empty and easier to get out of.

Finn waited until she was out of earshot to slap Poe’s chest. “Alright, explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Poe said as he rubbed the spot on his chest where Finn hit. “She just sat down next to me and started talking to me and then next thing I knew her cousin was throwing a fit and she asked to watch the game with us instead.”

“Well, at least you might get a date out of it,” Finn snorted.

“What?! No.” Poe shook his head. “No, no, no, it’s nothing like that.”

“Yeah, alright.”

“She just needs someone to keep her company during the game, you heard her! It’s no different than any other time someone sat next to us during one of these things. By the time we get on the train, she’ll have long forgotten about us.” Poe knew how these things worked. No matter how close you got during the game, you went your separate ways after it.

“I bet you fifty bucks you get a date by the end of the night.” Finn extended his hand.

“I’ll take that bet.” Poe shook his hand. He didn’t care about the money as much as rubbing it in Finn’s face when he turned out to be right. And maybe using it as leverage to stay home next time his friend wanted to drag him out on a night he didn’t feel like it.

“Where is she anyway?” Finn mused. “Wouldn’t want your future girlfriend to lose her bobblehead.”

Poe’s eyes widened. He got halfway up from the seat, holding on to the elote as he looked around in case Rey was nearby. With his luck, she would come over right as Finn was talking about their non-existent relationship.

“Would you cut it out?!” Poe slapped Finn’s chest, payback for earlier as far as he was concerned. “She seems nice and I don’t want you scaring her off!”

“Why would he scare me off?” Poe closed his eyes. Of course she heard that part. If ever there was a time for the ground to open up and swallow him whole, he wished it could be then.

“No reason,” Finn covered for him. “Hey, what’s that?”

It was only after Rey passed by him to sit down that Poe noticed she had come back with a cup full off… it looked like ice cream but a bit too… solid and non-melting.

“Edible cookie dough.” Rey moved the container around so they could see the label on the side. “I was on my way back but saw there wasn’t a line so I decided to go for it.”

“I didn’t realize there was an edible cookie dough stand here,” Poe frowned.

“Yeah, it’s near the Highball Club.” Rey dug a spoon into the dough, a beige mound containing chocolate chips and blue and orange sprinkles. Before Poe had a chance to point out that it wasn't close to where they were sitting, she added, “Okay, I might have specifically walked by them to see what the line was like. But I love it and Ben is always so judgmental when I get it, so I had to wait for him to leave to avoid the long lecture.”

“Hey, if it makes you happy…” While Poe didn’t quite see the appeal of edible cookie dough he certainly wasn’t about to judge her for enjoying something.

“Have you ever tried it?” she asked, probably sensing the skepticism in his voice.

“Can’t say I have,” Poe chuckled nervously.

“I’ll trade ‘ya,” Rey offered as she looked down at the container in his lap.

“Trade me?” Poe furrowed his brow.

“Bite of yours for a bite of mine.” Rey gestured over at the elote. “I’ve seen people with those corn cob things and have always been curious to try but never ended up doing it.”

“Oh, uhhh…” Poe hesitated.

“I’ve had all my shots, I promise, and I trust you do as well,” Rey backtracked, rambling. “But if you think it’s weird, I can get a knife. We don’t have to do it, though, if you don’t want to!”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Poe said as he handed her the elote.

Any potential weird feelings he had melted away as she bit into the corn. She moaned contentedly then covered her mouth and let out an embarrassed sound. “Sorry, it’s just really good.”

“You can have the rest, if you want,” Poe offered. Seeing as how her one bite was slowly turning into three, he didn’t think he could get it back even if he wanted it.

Rey’s eyes went wide as she looked down at the elote. “Oh! No! Sorry! I can’t take your food.”

“I’m offering it.” Poe waved her concern away. “Besides it looks like you’re enjoying it and I can always get myself another one.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice full of hope.

“Yeah, take it!” Poe nodded. From beside him he could hear Finn muttering under his breath. It wasn’t lost on him that Finn was the one who had bought the corn that Poe just gave away, but it was only a few dollars and he would probably get himself another one, so it would even out in the end.

“Thank you!” Her smile was glorious. She took a few more bites, making her way halfway down the elote before putting it down and handing him the cup of cookie dough she had balanced on her knees. “Please, try some, I insist!”

Poe carefully extracted the spoon from the mound and used it to scoop out as little as he could while still getting a bit of all the elements. When the sweet mixture hit his tongue he could see why Rey liked it.

“It’s good, right?” Rey asked innocently.

“It is,” Poe nodded, handing back the container.

“You can have more, if you want,” she offered. Well, she did steal his corn. A few more small bites couldn’t hurt.

Poe ate slowly, taking small bites and chewing them as long as he could until she was done with the corn.

“Are you sure you don’t want more?” Rey confirmed as she took the mostly full container back. Poe nodded. The game was due to start soon and he wanted to get another elote with enough time to get back before the bottom of the first inning. While not ideal, he could live with seeing the first half on the screens, but there was no way he was going to miss Pete Alonso’s first at bat.

As he speed-walked to El Verano Taqueria, he hoped beyond hope that Finn wouldn’t be trying to intervene on his behalf. Finn often thought of himself as a good wingman. He wasn’t. It wasn’t anything intentionally malicious, he just got very… excited and often said too much.

The line for the vendor was long, as per usual, but it moved quickly, and within five minutes Poe had what he came for and was on his way back, getting to his seat just in time for the National Anthem. As he made his way through their row to his seat, he saw Rey and Finn practically jump apart as they noticed him. Poe wanted to comment but figured he would be better off waiting till later when he would be alone with Finn and could interrogate him without an audience.

* * *

One full elote and a beer and a half later, the Mets were already down 5-2. Noah Syndergaard was pitching fantastically but with a spotty defense and very little run support, things were looking bleak. It looked, for lack of a better word, like the Mets had forgotten how to baseball - something that seemed all too frequent in the last month of the season. As far as Poe was concerned, the All-Star break couldn’t come soon enough.

“Still have a good feeling about the game?” Poe asked Rey smugly. From the few innings of conversation she seemed nice, smart, and knowledgeable about the game, but a bit too naive as far as Poe was concerned.

“It’s not over until the bottom of the ninth,” Rey shot back. “That’s’ what my uncle always taught me.”

“Your uncle sounds like mine,” Poe chuckled as he took a swig of his beer. “Always talking about the importance of hope.”

“Your uncle sounds like a wise man.”

“He is…” Poe started, trying to figure out the right way to finish the sentence, “but sometimes there’s value in recognizing when a situation is hopeless. Like this game.”

Rey shook her head. “My uncle told me that if he gave up, he never would have gotten as far as he did in his career.”

“What was his career?”

“He was a baseball player,” Rey said simply. “He played outfield for the Padres, the Pirates, and the Mets.”

Poe considered her words. He remembered hearing the name “Han” earlier and combined with “played outfield,” he scoured his memory for any players who matched the description until he narrowed it down to one. “Your uncle is Han Solo?!”

“Adopted uncle, technically,” Rey clarified, running her finger around the edge of her cup of beer. “But yeah, he’s the one.”

It took all of Poe’s strength to keep his inner fanboy in check. “I had his baseball card growing up.”

He failed. Still, it could have been worse, he told himself in an attempt to feel better. The look on Rey’s face, however, told Poe his self-congratulation was premature.

“You’re not the first guy who told me that when I revealed who my uncle was,” she sighed. “Suppose it was my fault. Shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have mentioned it to someone at a baseball game.”

“I’m sorry,” Poe gently put his hand on her forearm. She looked utterly heartbroken as her eyes met his and he wished he could do something, anything, to take back the last thirty seconds.

“It’s fine.” Rey shook her head as she pulled her arm away and drained the rest of her beer. “I’m gonna go get another one.”

Without waiting for a response, she climbed over her seat as she had earlier in the evening. There were more people in the row this time but Poe couldn’t miss the message. He had fucked up and she would rather make her way through a crowd of people than deal with him.

“Dude!” Finn hit Poe’s chest again. “What the hell?!”

“I know, I know, I fucked up.” Poe sighed. “See, I told you nothing would happen between the two of us.”

“Not with that attitude it won’t!” Finn argued.

“I think she might need a break from me right now, buddy.” Poe sat back and drank more of his beer, trying to figure out what he would say when she came back. _If_ she came back.

Without warning, Finn knocked Poe’s half full beer out of his hand. “You need to go and talk to her and I just gave you another excuse. Now go and fix this.”

Poe sat stunned for a moment, opening and closing his mouth as he searched for a reply. Instead of saying something, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity Finn had provided him and ran out of the row to try to catch up with Rey before she got back to the seats.

He started by going to the beer stand closest to the exit she’d taken. No luck. He went to the next one over but still couldn’t find her. The crowd moved around him as he wandered through the stadium, people cursing at him as he stumbled around, He was more looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack than paying attention to where he was going. Surely Finn would text him if she got back to her seat before he found her, right? She’d left her bobblehead behind, she wouldn’t just abandon it, right? Anxieties swirled through Poe’s head, giving him dozens of worst case scenarios, until he bumped into someone and the contact jolted him from his thoughts.

“Poe?” Rey asked, brow furrowed. She didn’t have a beer in her hand, which confused Poe until he looked up and saw the sign for the ladies room.

“I found you!” Without a second thought, he hugged her tightly, picking her up off the ground and twirling her around. The sound of her laughter was music in his ears and as he set her down, the look on her face made his heart soar.

“That was a surprise,” she laughed awkwardly. Shit. He never asked her if it was she was okay with him hugging her.

“I’m sorry, I…” Poe stammered, hoping he didn’t make the hole he was digging for himself so big he couldn’t get out of it.

“It’s okay,” Rey shook her head, beaming. “It was a nice surprise.”

“I’m glad,” Poe chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “So I noticed you don’t have another beer.”

 _Smooth,_ he winced at his awkward attempt at a pickup line.

“Very astute,” Rey said with a grin, “I got distracted by a phone call and then decided to go to the bathroom while there was no line.”

“Boyfriend?” Poe asked nervously. Better to find out now before things escalated.

“Nope, no boyfriend.” Rey shook her head. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going…” Poe started slowly, stretching out every syllable. “To buy you a beer. And whatever else you want.”

“Like what?” Rey asked coquettishly.

“Anything. Popcorn, french fries, ice cream…” Poe trailed off as he thought of other foods they had at the stadium. “Nachos...”

“Nachos!” Rey answered as soon as the option was presented to her.

Poe offered his arm for her to loop hers through so they could make their way over to the stand. “Milady.”

“Milord.” Rey looped her arm through his but as they approached the stand she stopped and pulled him back. “Wait, were you actually serious? About the nachos.”

Poe took his arm back, moving to stand in front of Rey. “I will deadass get you nachos, and beer, and whatever else you want. You want one of those fancy over-priced cocktails instead of a beer, I’ll get you one of those.”

Rey blushed and smiled shyly, looping her arm back around his and leading him over to the line. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Poe yearned to put his arm around her and pull her close. But he didn’t want to scare her off.

“He taught me to love baseball,” Rey said, breaking the silence. “My uncle.”

“You don’t have to…” He didn’t want her to feel like she was obligated to tell him something just because he was getting her food.

“I want to,” Rey cut him off. “You’re the first guy I’ve met who has actually made me want to talk about my uncle. Usually they either don’t care about baseball and their eyes glaze over before I finish the sentence, or they love baseball and as soon as they find out who I’m related to are no longer interested in me as a person, but rather the niece of someone famous.”

“I’d love to hear anything you have to tell me about him,” Poe grinned.

“I was adopted by my dad when I was twelve. By then I had been in and out of so many foster homes and orphanages I had almost given up hope that I’d find a family, that anyone would want me as part of their family, but he did,” Rey started. “By the time I was finally adopted, there were so many lingering feelings of resentment at being abandoned by my birth parents that it was hard for me to get used to the feeling of being wanted. The fact that I moved from the country I’d been living in my entire life up to that point only made matters worse.

“Still, my dad gave me all the time and space I needed to adjust. He brought me to his sister’s house once a week so I could get to know that part of my new family, but he didn’t force me to interact with anyone until I was ready. I mostly kept to myself, reading in the library until it was time to eat, but one night something changed. I heard cheering from the den and my curiosity got the better of me. That was when I saw my uncle watching a Mets game.

“He saw me standing at the door and invited me to join him. I didn’t grow up with the sport and barely understood what was going on, but then he started explaining it to me and it made sense. Ben, my cousin, never had any interest in the sport, so it was a way for my uncle and I to bond. Eventually my dad joined us and it was just the three of us. Watching the games every week.”

Poe was so captivated by her story that he didn’t notice they were next in line until an irate cashier called them over. He double checked with Rey on what she wanted, added his own items to the order and paid. The check came out to nearly $50 but it was a small price to pay to see her excited smile at the prospect of a plastic novelty helmet full of nachos.

“Thank you,” Rey said as they waited near the pick-up area to get their food.

“Thank you,” Poe echoed. When Rey furrowed her brow he clarified, “For sharing the story about your family.”

Rey bit her lip, eyes darting back and forth like she was trying to do some mental math. “I think you might only be the third person not related to me to hear that story all the way through.”

“I’m sorry, Sunshine,” Poe shook his head before turning around to grab the novelty nacho helmet the vendor put out to give to Rey and take the beers.

“Sunshine?” Rey asked, head tilted.

“Oh uhh, your name, Rey sounds like ray, as in, ‘ray of sunshine,’” Poe tried to explain. “Just sorta shortened that.”

Poe was genuinely nervous about what her reaction would be, cursing himself for that slip of the tongue. But then she smiled. “I like it!”

“So I just gotta ask.” Poe decided to follow his curiosity as they walked back to their seats. “Why did your cousin keep calling you ‘scavenger’?”

“Engineering grad student,” Rey explained. “And even before then, when I was younger I would always find broken electronics to try to take them apart and figure out how they worked. Eventually started buying things from eBay to refurbish and resell. Made a lot of money in college that way.”

“Huh, that makes sense, I guess…” Poe mused as they made their way down the aisle to their seats.

“There you are! Was starting to get a bit worried!” Finn called out as they made their way back to their seats.

“Did we miss anything?” Poe asked, handing Finn one of the beers.

“We’re now behind 6-1,” Finn informed him.

“Sounds about right,” Poe sighed. “Yelich?”

“Moustakas.” Finn shook his head. “Could have been worse. They had runners on first and second already.”

“At least something,” Poe sighed, rolling his eyes. He loved the team, he really did, but they tested his patience all too frequently and he wished he didn’t have to settle for ‘could have been worse’ type scenarios.

Looking over to his left, Poe saw that Rey had already started digging into the nachos, happily making her way through the bowl. She was so adorable as her eyes met his and she smiled bashfully. Covering her mouth with one hand while she chewed, Rey moved the nacho helmet toward Poe, asking “Want some?”

“How could I resist?” He grinned as he took a chip and dug it into the toppings.

The three of them spent much of the next two half innings focused more on the nachos than the game. The Mets didn’t score in the bottom of the sixth but at least they kept the Brewers from further extending the lead in the top of the seventh. By the time the seventh inning stretch came, the nachos were all gone and the novelty helmet was near Rey’s bobblehead so she could take it home and add to her growing collection.

Poe was torn - on the one hand he wanted the game to end because he wanted to be put out of his misery, on the other hand he wanted to spend as much time with Rey as he could and didn’t have any guarantee that he would see her again after that night.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time for the 1-800-Flowers.com kiss cam!” the voice of the announcer boomed through the stadium’s speakers. Poe always felt so awkward for the people who ended up on the kiss cam. How did the people operating it know who to choose? He hoped there was some assessment because it would probably be really weird if it picked two people who were either related or complete strangers. As happy couple after happy couple kissed for the cheering masses, Poe watched along…

…and then saw himself and Rey on the big screen. Fuck! Poe sat frozen, unsure of what to do. Turning his head slowly, he looked at Rey, who seemed just as nervous as he was. This wasn’t how he imagined their first kiss going! He couldn’t even imagine getting a first kiss with her, but he definitely didn’t imagine it happening like this. Raising an eyebrow he mouthed the words “want to” hoping she would understand him.

She did. Nodding with a smile as she leaned forward. Poe leaned in to meet her, cupping her face and kissing her. Though soft at first, it quickly ramped up to an intensity he thought he’d lost when Zorii left him. The volume of the cheering increased as their kiss deepened, Poe pulling Rey in closer, wrapping his arms around her while she played with the hair at the back of his neck. They only broke apart when oxygen became an issue, Poe still making it a point to give one more quick peck before settling back into his seat.

“You know it’s a ‘kiss’ cam, not a ‘make out in front of a stadium full of people’ cam, right?” Finn snarked.

Poe chuckled, he’d known Finn long enough to trust his words weren’t malicious. Instead of responding to them, Poe opted to do what he wanted to do all night, and put his arm around Rey, pulling her against his side, pressing a soft kiss against her temple.

In the bottom of the 7th, a solo home run from Amed Rosario followed by a three-run home run from Pete Alonso put the Mets within one run of the Brewers.

“See?” Rey teased as she pulled away to look at Poe. “And you were ready to write off the game in the 4th inning.”

“Shhh, don’t jinx it!” Poe teased.

When the Brewers came back in the top of the 8th to score two more runs, Poe was just about to tease Rey when he felt Finn slap his arm.

“Quick! Make out again! If we get four more runs we can win this!” Finn urged.

Poe looked back at Rey, both laughing at Finn’s suggestion.

“I mean…” she started, running her finger up and down his arm. “If it can help us win.”

“I supposed we can ‘take one for the team’,” Poe joked. Rey was chuckling as he leaned in to kiss her again. Unlike their first kiss, which was fiery and passionate, this one was slow and sweet. When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers, just wanting to take some time to be in the moment.

The Mets scored another run in the bottom of the 8th. It would be the last run anyone would score and they ended up losing 8-6.

“Ughh fine,” Rey sighed. “You were right. Happy?”

“Happy that my team lost? No.” Poe started. “Happy that I won our bet? Yes.”

“What bet?” Rey furrowed her brow.

“The one I just decided we had.” Poe announced as he pulled back and took out his cell phone. “I was right; therefore you need to give me your number.”

“Well…” Rey sighed dramatically as she took the phone and put in her information. “A bet is a bet.”

Poe wanted to think of something, anything else to say. Any other reason to stay in the company of this beautiful woman. But it was getting late and she probably wanted to go home. Then again, she didn’t seem too eager to leave either, so maybe that was a sign?

“It was nice meeting you.” Poe hated how awkward the words sounded but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Yeah…” Rey’s voice trailed off as she drew circles on his hand with her finger, looking up at him. “You have my number now. You’re gonna use it, right?”

“Of course,” Poe frowned, hating that she had any doubts.

“Good! Don’t keep me waiting!” With a quick kiss on his cheek, she bounced out of her seat, taking her bobblehead, novelty helmet, and accumulated trash with her and ran up the aisles.

Clutching his phone in his hand, Poe touched the spot on his cheek where Rey had just kissed him.

“Hey!” Finn snapped his fingers twice to get Poe’s attention. “You coming?”

Poe nodded catatonically, getting his stuff and following Finn out of the stadium. As they waited for the 7 train, Poe scrolled through StubHub on his phone, smiling when he found what he was looking for. Buying two tickets, he opened up the Messages app on his phone and started a new conversation.

 **Poe:** Hey, it’s Poe, from the Mets game. Are you free to go to another game next Saturday? No bobblehead giveaway but it is a fireworks night.

Her response came less than a minute later.

 _Rey:_ I’m in.

 _Rey:_ But only if we can go to your place after for some fireworks of our own ;)

 **Poe:** Anything for you, Sunshine

Poe sent Rey the digital ticket and put his phone back in his pocket, resting back against the seat. He had been so hung up on the disaster that was his relationship with Zorii that he couldn’t imagine finding someone else. For all he knew things with Rey would fizzle out quickly, but he sure as hell was excited to give them a try. Finn was right, it was worth it to go out tonight. There was one thing that was still bothering him though...

“Hey buddy,” Poe said to get Finn’s attention. “What did you and Rey talk about while I was gone?”

“She asked me if you were single.” Finn grinned knowingly.

“I owe you fifty bucks.” He probably also owed Finn an apology for his assumption of his friend’s wing-man skills... but that could wait for another day.

“Told you!” Finn chuckled. “And by the way, I take cash only.”

The Mets might have lost that night, but Poe sure as hell won.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading to the end! The game in the story is based on one I went to last year - that game took place in April but I moved it to July in the story for plot reasons.


End file.
